Kevin O'Brien - One Last Scream

George grabbed the flashlight from the stump, and directed it into the pit. He figured Lon must have been lazy and careless about disposing of his victims’ bodies, because the grave was way too shallow.

And the bones were way too small.

“It’s a fucking cat,” Tyler grumbled. He leaned on the shovel, and glanced at the other wildflower patches. “You were right about these pretty little buds indicating a grave. But I bet this is a boneyard for fucking cats. Ranchers and farmers often have a mess of cats to keep mice and rats away.”

“Well, let’s try one more,” George said, putting the flashlight back on the tree stump. He grabbed the pick again. “Just to be sure, okay? I mean, if it’s another cat, it won’t take us long to find it.”

“I think we’re wasting our time here,” the deputy said. “And I don’t want to miss American Idol tonight.”

“Just another fifteen minutes,” George said, swinging the pick into a new section of wildflowers. “Just think, you might help solve Sandra Hartman’s disappearance. What was she like, anyway?”

They dug for twenty minutes, while Tyler talked about what a knockout Sandra had been. Then George got a call on his cell phone. He checked the caller ID. It was home. He dropped the pick, and clicked on the phone. “Jessie, is that you?” he asked.

“Yes. Hello, George,” she said.

He could tell immediately that something was wrong. “What’s going on?” he asked warily.

“Oh, we have a situation here,” she said. “Y’see, my sister’s sick, very sick, and I need to go see her. She lives in Denver. Anyway, how soon can you come home?”

“Um, it’ll take at least two and a half hours,” he said. “Jessie, I’m so sorry about your sister-”

“Well, we had a family emergency here, too, George,” she said stiffly. “Steffie had a bad asthma attack. I called the doctor. She’s fine now. She’s resting. But she’s asking for her daddy.”

He could tell from Jessie’s tone, it was more serious than she let on.

“If it’s worse than that, Jessie, please, tell me,” he said. “I’d rather know now.”

“No. But I need you to hurry home.”

“Well, could you put Steffie on the phone? I’d like to talk to her.”

“Um, I can’t, George. Like I said, she’s resting. Just come home as soon as you can, okay?”

“I will, Jessie, thanks. I’m leaving now.”

“Be careful,” she said. Then there was a click and the line went dead.

He hit the disconnect button. “I’ve got to go,” he murmured. “A family emergency up in Seattle, my daughter needs me.”

Tyler leaned on his shovel. “How are you getting back there?”

Wringing his dirty hands, George shrugged. “On the way down here, I flew to Portland and then rented a car.”

“It would be faster for you if you took a charter from McNary Field here in Salem,” Tyler suggested. “You’d zip home in no time at all. The airport’s not too far from here. Want to follow me out there?”

George hesitated. “Thanks, but could you give me directions instead?” He glanced down at the new crater they’d dug. It was at least three feet deep

The deputy gave him a wary look and chuckled. “Holy crap, you want me to keep digging?”

“Just ten more minutes, please,” George said. “If it was a cat, we would have found it by now. Something else is down there.”

Tyler took a moment, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll keep at it,” he sighed. “So, let me tell you how to get to McNary Field from here.”

The man with the sunglasses took the receiver away from Jessie’s face and hung up the phone.

“Good job,” he said, with a tiny smirk.

While holding the phone for her, he’d kept the other extension-George’s cordless-to his own ear. He clicked that off, and then set it on the kitchen counter.

Jessie was tied to a kitchen chair, her wrists bound together behind her with duct tape.

She’d been tied up like that for the last twenty minutes now. Their intruder had forced Jody to strap her into the chair. He’d used Jody’s little sister as a negotiating tool, and the 11-year-old boy had been very cooperative.

“That’s right,” he’d told Jody, one hand over Steffie’s mouth. The other held the gun to her head. “Now, wind the tape around fatso’s stomach and the chair back. Strap her in real tight. Huh, you might need a few yards to get around all that blubber….”

Shooting him a look, Jody hesitated.

“Just do what he says, honey,” Jessie whispered. She was worried Steffie would have an asthma attack right there. The little girl trembled and quietly wept while the intruder tickled her earlobe with the revolver barrel.

Jessie sat there helpless as he made Jody wrap the tape around her ankles, fixing them to the chair’s front legs. He tested Jody’s work, pulling at each adhesion.

Then he took the children into their bedrooms. Cringing, Jessie listened to him barking instructions to Jody on how to tie up his sister. She heard Steffie whimpering the whole time, and Jody telling her to be brave. Jessie prayed and prayed that the next sound she heard wouldn’t be a gunshot.

“That’s right, put the tape over her mouth,” the man said at one point.

Jessie listened to Steffie’s muffled whining.

“C’mon, your turn,” the man growled to Jody. “Take me to your room.”

For the next few minutes, it was deathly quiet. Then suddenly, Jody let out a loud cry. It sent a jolt through Jessie’s heart. “What are you doing to him?” she cried.

She waited anxiously for the next sound. Finally, she heard Jody’s stifled moaning. At least he was still alive.

“There’s no reason to hurt the children!” she called. “We’re not stopping you. Please, just take whatever you want and leave!”

A few long moments passed before the young man ambled back into the kitchen with the cordless phone from George’s study. “Oh, I’m not leaving for a while,” he announced. “In fact, we’re all going to wait here for their daddy to come home.”

Then he’d forced her to make the call to George.

Jessie couldn’t figure out why he wanted George to rush home. But she realized this wasn’t an ordinary robbery. This was something much worse.

She stared up at that pale, young man with the jet-black hair and those tiny bangs over his forehead. Jessie wished she could see his eyes behind those dark glasses. “Listen, what’s your name, anyway?”

He didn’t respond. But he seemed to be studying her behind the sunglasses.

“Well, you heard George tell me that he won’t be here for another two and a half hours,” Jessie continued. “Since we’re stuck here together that long, I should at least know you by name, any name. What should I call you?”

“Call me Your Majesty,” he replied, deadpan.

“Well, Your Majesty, I want to compliment you on the way you dress,” Jessie said. “That’s a very snappy suit. It shows you’re serious and have a lot of self-respect. I think you’re also smart enough, and compassionate enough, to care about those kids. You must know they’re scared, and very uncomfortable.”

“They’re fine, hog-tied on their beds.”

Jessie sighed. “The little one has asthma. If she has an attack, we won’t be able to hear her. You’ve taped up her mouth. She could suffocate.” Jessie’s voice started to shake. “And she’s wet herself. I’m sure you saw that. You have a heart. I know you do. If you’d just let me change her clothes and wash her up. Then the two children and I, we’d sit quietly on the sofa together. You could still keep our wrists and ankles tied….”

“You talk too fucking much,” he said coolly. “Would it help shut you up if I tied a plastic bag over your head?”